Seventeenth Day in Dortmund

Sept. 17th, 2012

Another Monday! It seems like time passes extra fast here. I can't believe I've already been in Germany for 2 1/2 weeks! I got up at 8:00 as usual and made my way to class. I chose to walk along the road this morning, just to break up the monotony of walking in the field. I did make a video of what it's like to walk that path, but I am trying to edit it so everyone does not have to sit through five minutes of the camera pointed at the ground.

In any case, I wish I had taken the field this morning. While they are doing construction on the main road to University, they usually have one or the other side of the street open to foot traffic. This morning, both sides were closed. I was already running a little bit late and could not afford to walk all the way back to the entrance road for the field. So I took my life in my own hands and walked along the road. Every time I heard a car approaching, I squeezed as close to the side as I could, but I was still uncomfortable with the amount of space between me and their rearview mirrors. I guess this is Europe, where drivers are used to going around pedestrians and cyclists, but I was still scared. As soon as the sidewalk opened back up, I hopped on it. I was glad that I did, two seconds later, a garbage truck passed me, and the tires were hugging the curb where I had just been walking. Phew! And that, kids, is the time I was almost squished by a garbage truck! I will definitely be taking the field path until these construction workers decide their work is done.

In class today, we learned about the four cases a word can be: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, and Genitive. I was really glad that I took Grammar last year with Dr. Tuten. English grammar is hard enough, but at least I knew what the teacher was talking about when she named the cases. There were some people in class who had never heard of the cases.

After class let out, I was determined to go shopping in the city. However, this usually requires money, and I was down to 5 Euro. I had been holding out on going to any old ATM, because Daddy found out the Deutsch Bank is associated with Bank of America and there is no extra charge if you withdraw money from one of their ATM's. I had looked up where the closest one was and made my way to Stadtgarten. I found it with no problems and was happy to finally have some money in my wallet.

After that, I went to Rossman's. I was specifically looking for Vicks VapoRub. A lot of people are getting sick and I do not want to be without my menthol gel if I catch something. However, the Germans must not get sick, or they don't use Vicks. Instead, they use  "Wicks" but it was only cough drops. Alas, I gave up searching and went to Aldi's for some groceries.

So it does exist!!! 

I filled up my buggy as was expecting to pay at least 40 Euro, but my total only came out to 12.50! Thank you Aldi!

I also got my first letter today that wasn't a bank statement or phone bill. It was from my sister Leslie and I was so excited. Here is said letter:

Thank you sissy!!! 

She also recommended some ideas for the blog, so in fulfilling her request, I will focus a little more on the food I eat over here. (I am happy to oblige when it comes to talking about food).

So. At Aldi's, I purchased some Kinder eggs. Lauren and Leslie had already introduced me to these delicious treats when I was around 12. They are like Cracker Jacks, except more chocolate and better toys. I even got a pack of three for 1 Euro!

Drei! Drei Eier, a-hah-hah!

Here is what one looks like:

Prize inside!!

Assemble this awesome wolf!

The finished product.

Okay, i think that's enough on the subject of Kinder eggs.

I also purchased the equivalent of Lil Smokies in honor of my father, since they are his favorite thing to serve at dinner parties.

What else? Oh! I also got some Peppermint tea that is delicious! I got some Apfelschorle as well. It's like apple cider, and we discovered it on our trip to Berlin back in May. "It's like crack!"as my friend Sarah describes it haha.

Crack-tastic!

On my way back to school, I stopped at a store in the train station. We had passed this place dozens of times, but I never had the chance to stop. They sell chocolate covered waffles on a stick. It's pretty much the best thing ever. It's only 60 cents as well. I was so excited to try them and they did not disappoint. Here's what they look like in all of their glory:

 Enough food for a while, that's the end of this post, Schüss!

German Word of the Day: Brief- "Letter" I am always excited to open a Brief from home! 

Sixteenth Day in Dortmund

Sept. 16th, 2012

I actually got to sleep in today. It was so nice. Though, my body did wake me up at 9, I was able to roll over and sleep till noon. I got up and took care of minor things. One involved lending Chris my hair dryer. It turns out, his clothes are still not dry from when he did the wash a few days ago. It really sucks, and I’m glad that my roommate lets me use her stand dryer thing.

This is what I'm referring to

 I then made my way to Carl’s apartment, all for the sake of internet (and of course, the company of Carl). I actually didn’t see a whole lot of him, I skyped with my parents, my sister, and my professor from Columbia College. I also updated my blog (finally!) and wrote a lot of emails. I guess that’s what happens when you go incognito for a week. It was so nice to see my family over Skype. They told me about their work week and I related my trips to Cologne and Düsseldorf. We also planned for my trip back in October. After I finally finished all my computer stuff, Carl offered me some dinner. It was a noodle casserole with peas and chicken and really delicious. He suggested watching a movie with our dinner and said I could choose. The problem was, I kept picking ones he had watched within the last two weeks. It was uncanny. Out of his hundreds of films, I picked three in a row that he had recently watched. I finally left it up to him and we chose Be Kind Rewind. We didn’t get to finish it because I wanted to get home before dark, but from the parts that I saw, it was really funny.

Nothing much else to report, a lazy Sunday indeed. See you later! Schüss!

German Word of the Day: Bügeleisen- "Iron." I need to purchase a Bügeleisen since all of my clothes are wrinkly. 

Fifteenth Day in Dortmund

Sept. 15th, 2012

No sleeping in on this Saturday. I was up at 8:00 AM to catch a train into the main station. We were meeting for another class excursion, this time to Düsseldorf. The trains were not as packed this time, but I did have to stand the whole ride there. Once we were off, we went straight to a famous shopping street in town. The Königsallee or King’s Street is known for its expensive shops and restaurants. We passed Cartier, Gucci, Armani, Louis Vuitton, and many more. There weren’t that many people in the stores (I wonder why?) but I did get a kick out of gawking at all the fancy cars parked on the streets. Once we were done with that, the tutors took us to the Parliament building. Düsseldorf is the capital of the North-Rhine Westphalia state. 

We then toured some buildings designed by Frank Gehry. They reminded me a lot of the city of Whoville in Dr. Seuss books.  

  

After we got back from the city, I went to Carl's apartment for Turkish food and board games. I got to meet one of their friends, Dieter. His full name is Wolf-Dieter. If my first name was Wolf, I would totally go by that, but to each his own. He was very nice and also studying to be a teacher like Carl and Ann-Kathrin. He doesn’t watch Saturday Night Live, so I couldn’t ask him if he got tired off all Mike Myers references. 

It's time for Sprockets!!! 

We played Triominoes (or Triminey as Ann-Kathrin calls it), which was basically a game of Dominoes with three sides. Ann-Kathrin won both times, much to everyone else’s dismay. Then we went to pick up the Turkish food. I ordered a Dönur and it reminded me a lot of the Greek gyros I’ve tried back home. Carl told me the difference is the type of meat used. Turkish Dönurs use chicken or beef, while Greecian Gyros usually use pork. I also got to try some of their freshly baked bread and baklava. Both were heavenly.

After that, some more friends came over. The first to arrive was Matthias, or Matze, who is studying Engineering in Bochum. He didn’t speak a lot of English, but we made do with pantomiming and a lot of translation from Carl and Ann-Kathrin. Thomas came over as well. He is also an English major at Dortmund. We all played a board game similar to Yahtzee. I didn’t want to say, but I usually suck at Yahtzee and always forget the rules. Thankfully, Ann-Kathrin was sitting next to me and helped me along. It turns out that the game I don’t know how to play is one of my best. I got two Yahtzees (all the dice rolled turn up on the same side) and they were both all sixes! I couldn’t believe it. In the end, my score was 403 and Dieter, who came in second, scored in the 200 range. All in all, a good game, I think. Haha. 

After that, we all sat around talking and comparing and contrasting America and Germany. Dieter knew what Bojangles was, so we both raved about that to the others. The only comparison over here is KFC and it’s subpar at best. I really want a Boberry biscuit now. It was a fun day, and I was happy to meet Carl and Ann-Kathrin’s friends. More board games and fun to come!

German Word of the Day: Der Tisch- "Table" When playing Yathtzee, make sure the dice stay on der Tisch.

Fourteenth Day in Dortmund

Sept. 14th, 2012

It was another early day. Chris and I met at 6:45 AM to prepare hashbrowns for the international breakfast. We did it without a potato ricer too! I think I used up half a roll of paper towels, squeezing out the water from the potatoes, so I guess that will probably be noted on my trash manifesto.

I also had to give Chris a pair of socks. I showed him where the laundry room was yesterday, but when he went to take out his clothes, there was half an inch of water left in the drum. They were soaking wet when they went into the dryer, and these “energy-efficient” European dryers are not very effective. Even after two hours, his clothes were still wet. When he came over to my apartment this morning, I asked how he dried his clothes. He said he just hung them up all over his room, but the socks he was wearing were still wet. I thought this was hilarious, but really crappy as well, so I offered him a pair of mine. I probably shouldn’t laugh at him, I’m going to have to do laundry soon enough, and will be lucky if I don’t flood the entire basement with my hapless attempt to work the washing machine. The instructions are, of course, all in German and involve several steps. There are clotheslines, and I don’t mind hanging my stuff up to dry, but jeans take forever to dry. I may have to chance the dryers.

After we made the hashbrowns, we toted everything to the International Building. The other American group brought Poptarts and Pigs in a Blanket. I was super-excited to eat a multicultural breakfast. The group did not disappoint. I had Hungarian eggs, Turkish wraps, French croissants, and Japanese pickles. However, the Italians blew it out of the water. I had filled my plate and was sampling everything. I took a bite of a crepe-looking thing I had gotten from their table and stopped. I turned to everyone at my table and said “Oh. My. God.” They asked “What? What?!” The crepe was filled with Nutella! I immediately cut it into sections for everyone to try and we all agreed that they were the winners. They also had wine at their table! However, I didn’t get to sample that. Everything that I did try was delicious, and I think it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a long time.

After everyone had eaten, we started the presentations. They were in German, so I followed along as best I could. The French group put on a skit that was hilarious. It involved Alex dressed up as a tourist, complete with tube socks and Birkenstocks. I also enjoyed Japan’s presentation, where they explained the relation of the angle of bowing to respect. 

Basically the one on the far right is to say excuse me, or respect if you meet someone really powerful, like the President or  someone who works at the DMV. 

After this was done, I went to the library to study for a while.  I had a boring Friday night, (no Mario Kart this time) but I did attempt to do laundry. That was significantly less fun than Mario Kart.

I put in coins and figured out how to use the machines. At least, I thought I did, but the settings were all in German, so I just turned the knob to a random word. This was probably not the best choice.

 When my two hours were up, I went to take out my clothes. The first machine was fine, my clothes were slightly damp, but clean. When I went to the next one, my clothes were still swimming in water. There was at least two inches of water left in the drum, just like when Chris did his laundry. I knew I shouldn’t have laughed at him! I had to transform into a washerwoman of the days of old and wring out all my clothes over the tiny sink in the corner of the room. It was not a fun experience and one I don’t hope to repeat. Either the washer is broken, or I chose the wrong setting. I did what I could, and put my socks, underwear, and jeans in the dryer.  I could hang up everything else, but I knew jeans would take a month to air dry. I should have noted that none of the other students were using the dryers and must have known that setting a tea candle next to your clothes would have gotten them drier than the appliances in the laundry room. After my two hours were up, everything was still wet and I had to hang up all of my clothes anyway. Luckily, I still had some spare socks and underwear and did not have to go around wearing the same pair for two days. I discovered that doing laundry over here requires days of planning and mental preparation. I am not looking forward to my next load, but maybe the machines will be fixed by then. Good night all!

German Word of the Day: Wäsche-"laundry" If I can't figure out how the machines work, I might have to do my Wäsche in the river.

Thirteenth Day in Dortmund

Sept. 13th, 2012

I got to sleep in today! Until 8:30!! I went to class and we covered a lot today. We learned about Trennbare Verben, which are verbs you split up and put the first half of the word at the end of the sentence. For example, “einkaufen” means “to buy.” You chop off the ein part and put it at the end of the sentence like this: “Wir kaufen Bröt ein.” (We buy bread). It’s kind of complicated, but I didn’t invent the German language, so I guess I’ll have to get over it. We also learned how to incorporate the word “like” (gern) into a sentence and practiced more infinitives. We did about 8 worksheets, and by the 7^th one, my brain had shut down. I just sat there and tried to conjugate the verbs I knew.

How do I German??

Needless to say, I was very happy when lunch rolled around. Bilge and I had both packed sandwiches so we ate in the café. I had packed a PB&J. That’s right, you read correctly, peanut butter!!! I was complaining to the group about not being able to find any and Mike volunteered that his mom had packed him some, but he didn’t like it, and I could have it. When he gave it to me, I fell upon the ground and cried tears of joy. (ok, maybe not that drastic, but I was super-happy). Canada is my new favorite country. To all the haters saying Canada produced Justin Bieber, I would also like to submit that it also produced both Ryan Gosling and Ryan Reynolds, so that’s all the convincing I need.  

It's even got cute little bears on it!!!

For your consideration

 I told Mike I would buy him a jar of Nutella for trade, as we should keep U.S.-Canadian relations on relatively good terms.

After that we all meet up for another excursion. This time, it was a S.S. prison from World War II, “Steinwache.” It reminded me a lot of the Stasi prison we visited in Berlin on our class trip in May. The cells were very cramped and cold. All of the exhibits were in German, but our tour guide pointed out a Resistance poster that made me laugh. Basically, it said “How is one supposed to be the ideal German?”

‘Blond, like Hitler

Tall, like Goebbels

Skinny, like Goring”

It made a good point that the men that claimed to be making a superior race, did not even fit into the categories prescribed. However, the man that distributed those posters was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. It made me appreciate the freedom of speech we have today.

After we got back, Damla cooked dinner for me! It was so nice: a corn salad, rice, and some Turkish meatballs. It was delicious. I told her I’d return the favor once I have more ingredients than just bread, meat, and cheese. I asked what kind of American foods she liked, and she said she’d never had a taco or quesadilla. It was settled. Chicken quesadillas are on the menu for sometime this month. Now I just have to figure out how to debone and cook a chicken… I will NOT be using Simplerecipes.com.

German Word of the Day: Freude- "joy" . Upon receiving peanut butter, I jumped for Freude. 

Twelfth Day in Dortmund

Sept. 12th, 2012

Today I had to get up extra early. Like 5:30 early. I know what dark thirty means now. I was stumbling around in the dark trying to put on my clothes and eat breakfast while still half awake. The reason for the early morning involves taxes. Selma wanted Mike, Chris, and I to be the first at the tax office (which opened at 7:30) to submit our forms for our job. Apparently some of our money will be taken out and put in a Retirement fund, but if we don’t come back to Germany for two years, we can get that money back. I will have to set a reminder for 2015 to text Germany and see where my money is.

I also had class today as usual. It was a shorter period, though, because we had a big meeting to go over our presentations for Friday. We showed our Powerpoint to one of the teachers, fixed some minor spelling errors, and went to lunch. I had packed a sandwich, so Britney and I went to the café instead. She introduced me to a Berliner (doughnut), which was heavenly. I wish I had not found out about this place, haha. They also had some delicious looking muffins and cheese croissants. We then met back at the U-Bahn station for another class trip. We went to a mining and rock museum. It was about as fun as it sounds. I did enjoy the replica mine they had created, complete with real machines that still work, and a creepy horror movie aura. I even had to duck under some of the crossbeams. But I felt really bad for Mike, who is about 6-2. He was just hunched over the whole time. The museum also had a replica of C-3P0 (not sure what this has to do with mining), and I nerded out over that. I had Bilge take my picture beside it.

When we were done with the tour, we went back to campus and Chris and I did a dry run of making hashbrowns for Friday’s breakfast. We learned that Simple Recipes.com is a liar, and though the ingredients may be simple, the tools are not. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a potato ricer or garlic press in my life, but that’s what the recipe called for.

Apparently, this is a potato ricer. Looks complicated to me. 

We made do the old fashioned way, by chopping up the potatoes ourselves and squeezing the liquid out of them with paper towels. We were both skeptical as to the results, but they were surprisingly good hashbrowns! Nice and crispy. We will make a bigger batch Friday morning for all to enjoy, and hopefully they will be as good as our first. I’ve been up since 5, I think this entry is long enough. Schüss!!

German word of the day: Glückauf- It was a way German miners said good luck to one another when starting a shift. "Glückauf, and don’t get crushed by that coal seam!"

Eleventh Day in Dortmund

Sept. 11th, 2012

Today was filled with even more paper work. ( I know everyone is just as tired as me of hearing about paperwork) There were lots of copies made, print outs of resumes, tax forms, and the like.

I kind of missed home today. There is usually a moment of silence or reflection. Obviously, this is not the case in Germany. It just seemed that no one remembered or cared what today was. Not that I’m all “Yeah! September 11^th was bad! We should all be sad!” but I still felt sort of unpatriotic.

Besides that, I went to class as usual. I missed a lot in just one day. Our teacher even gave a test, and this was how I felt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccoj5lhLmSQ

However, she took me aside and said I could just try it and skip the stuff I didn’t know. I did surprisingly well. There was a whole section on telling time that I had to leave blank, but I now know the seasons, how to tell my birthday, and some easy verb conjugations. In class, we learned the German sounds that animals make. Everyone had a card with the name of an animal on one side and the phonetic noise on the back. So, I had Katze and miau was on the back. That was the closest one to English. One girl had Pferd (horse) but she made a noise like “whooo whoooo” and everyone guessed owl. It was interesting to see the different ways that each language has in identifying animals. The rooster one was really funny. When you think about it, “cock-a-doodle-doo” doesn’t really sound like the noise a rooster makes, but the German version “kickaree kee” was hilarious as well. 

Later, we had our first major Dortmund Doubles meetup. We gathered in a big circle and everyone introduced themselves.  I got to see Lena for the first time as well! She was an exchange student at Columbia College last year, and we had two classes together. She volunteered to be one of my Doubles when she found out I was coming to Dortmund.  We all planned trips and outings for the whole group, and it was nice to meet other Doubles and international students.

Sorry today was not really that interesting, I will try and get into some shenanigans within the next week.

German Word of the Day: Der Hahn- "rooster" In the morning, der Hahn crows kika-ree-kee or cock-a-doodle-doo, depending on what country he is from. 

Ninth and Tenth Day in Dortmund

 (9/9/12 and 9/10/12) (Yes, I combined days, so sue me (Please don’t))

            Sunday!! Nothing that interesting to report, unfortunately. Today was spent filling out paper work. We met in Selma’s office around noon and stayed until four. We also went over our German CV’s and made corrections. After that, Britney, Chris, and I met in the library to work on our presentation for the International Breakfast. In addition to food, we also have to talk in German for five minutes about our country. We focused on representations of the South in film, like Forrest Gump and Gone With the Wind, and also included a slide on what we eat, complete with a picture of Paula Deen. I think it’s a good effort, and the teacher’s said to be creative, and I think a doughnut hamburger is very creative. After that, I walked back to my dorm and went to bed. Just your average bureaucratic and lazy Sunday.

            Monday!! Another early day.  We met with Selma to fill out even more paperwork. Then we made our way to City Hall. Mike and I had appointments to get our Visas. This took a while so I missed a whole day of class. As promised, here is my crazed Visa photo: 

I think it gives off a criminal vibe, like I'm mad that I got nabbed for all those murders.

After that, Mike and I navigated back to Dortmund. I sat next to a very friendly older German woman on the bus. She chattered away even after I sheepishly said “Englisch?” and asked me what I was studying and where I was from. I think she had a son that works for Microsoft and speaks perfect English and French. At least, those are some of the words I could make out. Once we got back to campus Mike showed me how to get coins for the laundry and explained the cafeteria a little better.

After class and appointments we all went shopping. We went to a Karstadt, which kind of reminded me of Kroger. It was a lot nicer than Aldi, and had more selection, but also more expensive as well. I met another nice older German. It was a man this time, and he helped me hold open my tote bag and put all my groceries in. He kept talking to me like the woman on the bus, but this time I just nodded and said “Ja” and “danke” a lot. Mike said they must like me here… only the older people it seems, which is ok by me. 
German Word(s) of the day. 1. Bürokratie- "Bureaucracy" In order to get a Visa, one must often go through the world of Bürokratie. 2.Opa- "Grandpa" The girl's Opa helped her learn to read.

Eighth Day in Dortmund

Eighth Day in Dortmund (Saturday, Sept. 8th)

One word to describe today: Sweaty. Since I don’t have any internet to check the weather, I just judge by sticking my hand out the window. It was sort of chilly this morning so I put on my regular jeans and cardigan. I should have known better. The high today was around 85 F.

My day began with walking to the subway station. We were going on a class trip to Cologne and I was super-excited. Once everyone was assembled, we crammed onto the train. When I say crammed, I mean it. I became acquainted with many strangers after being smashed up against them for two hours. For added fun, there was no air conditioning. I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead 5 minutes after we left the station. I would not need my cardigan after all. Our group also manages to somehow attract the crazy/drunk people. A man got on in Essen and ranted in both German and English about school and laziness. He. Would. Not. Shut. Up. He was right next to us as well, and since we couldn’t move, it was his yelling for half an hour that just about put me over the edge. I also get motion sickness, and when the only thing I could see was the wall in front of me, I began to get nauseous. Luckily, many passengers left at the major stops, like Dusseldorf and Duisburg and we eventually found seats away from crazy dude.

I sat down next to a family that consisted of a grandma, her daughter, and her grandson. They were nice enough, but it was a very quiet ride. At one stop, a group of performers got on the train. They had an accordion, tambourine, bass, and saxophone. They played “When The Saints Go Marching In” and another song I didn’t know. It was really fun. I was grinning and met the grandma’s eyes. She smiled back and said something in German. It kind of hit me that music is universal and transcends all barriers. It was a sweet moment.

When you exit the train station in Cologne, the first thing you see is their cathedral, “The Kölner Dom.” It is very impressive. Dating back to the 13th  century, it took over 600 years to complete construction of the church. 

Before we went in, however, we first went for a cruise on the Rhine. It was nice and bright and gave a good view of the cathedral and the rest of the city. We passed their chocolate museum, which demands a second visit to Cologne.

One of the many bridges we passed under.

Bilge and me on the boat! My split lip is from a bar brawl at 3 am (Not really, it's a cold sore).

We got to meander through the shops and restaurants before going in the Cathedral. It was sweltering, so we mainly stuck to the shaded streets.

We made our way back to the Cathedral and went in. It was a Saturday, and crowded, but still very peaceful and quiet inside. This cathedral is massive. I just stared at the ceiling for about five minutes. We were given a guided tour and found out some really neat stuff about it. I knew that in Chartres, they had removed the stained glass during World War II, and they did the same here! However, they kept each window in a separate underground location, so that if one place was bombed, everything would not be lost.

This is the newest addition to the Cologne Cathedral. Done by Gerhard Richter, he assembled the pieces by letting a computer randomly sort colors. I thought it looked pixelated. It was interesting, but some of the older windows were my favorite.

·      

  There was an option to climb to the top of the cathedral (509 steps!) and I really wanted to do it,  but we didn’t have enough time. I will just have to make a plan to go back. The ride back to campus was just as cramped, but no crazy drunks for once. When I got back home, I invited Bilge over and we had tea. It was a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed Cologne.

German Word of the Day: Rot-Red. When traveling on trains, do not push any rot buttons, or you will be severely punished.

Seventh Day In Dortmund

Seventh Day in Dortmund (Friday, Sept. 7th)

Second day of class today!!! It was in a different room from the first day (just to keep things complicated) but I found the new room easily enough. Today we covered new verbs and how to say countries and nationalities. I think my favorite was Chinesisch  (Chinese) you say it key-nay-zissh. Very odd, I had to say it a couple of times to get it down. We didn’t have class for the usual three hours either! Our teacher stopped at 11 and said “we have an announcement for all the classes, meet downstairs in 10 minutes.” Very mysterious. While waiting for them to begin, I got to know a girl in my class, Aida. She was from Barcelona and we raved about Vampire Diaries together. She is also signing up for some of the same classes as me, so I’ll know at least one person!

Once everyone had crammed into one room, they announced we would be having an international breakfast next Friday. Anything involving food immediately got my vote. Students from each country were supposed to group up and agree upon foods to bring that best represented a normal breakfast for them. It turns out there are actually 8 Americans in the program, so we split into groups of 4. The group that I’m in has Christopher, Sarah, and Brittney. We are all from the South and decided on biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, and maybe scrambled eggs. We wanted to do grits, but decided that anyone who didn’t grow up eating them would probably not like them. And, we had no idea where/if they are sold in Germany.  I am already excited about next week, I love trying new foods and cuisines and there are a lot of countries participating, from Belgium to Turkey. We also have to give a five minute presentation about our country, and since there are two groups of Americans, we decided to each focus on a section of the U.S. We went with the South and the other group is doing the West. It should be a fun time!

After that, we were free for lunch. We trekked over to the Menza and ate in the cafeteria. It was my first time in there and it was somewhat overwhelming. It was a lot bigger than Columbia College’s cafeteria, and there were a lot more choices as well. I had no idea what descriptions of the food said, so I looked for familiar stuff. I ended up with Watermelon and some sort of potato dish. It was actually very good. Maybe sometime I’ll get the courage to go through the pizza line and order in German.

When we got done, we assembled back in the classroom for an academic advising meeting. Dr. Gruenzweig was there and talked about their expectations, course hour conversions, and gave us a course catalog to peruse. I met my adviser, Jessica, who was very helpful, and we set up a meeting for Monday to pick classes. I have a lot to choose from, but with my job and internship I will have to try and restrain myself if I want to have any life at all.

When the meeting was over, I went to the library to check emails and read up on the news. With no Internet, TV, or English newspaper, I was really out of touch with everything going on.

I walked back to my dorm and prepared for a nerdy Friday night.  I had to be up for a class trip at 8 the next morning, so I didn’t really have any plans. I was studying my notes from class and reading a book. You know, your typical wild Friday night. Then, I heard a banging on the door. My roommate was still out of town, so I wasn’t sure what to think. I looked out the peephole and 3 people were standing there, two boys and a girl. I cracked the door, and one of the boys said something excitedly in German that had Damla’s name in it. I just said “Englisch?” It turns out they were having a Mario Kart Party and needed a fourth person. They were friends with Damla and wanted to invite her over. When I explained that she wasn’t there, they invited me to come play.  They were really persistent too. I figured, what the heck, I’m not doing anything, and I love Mario Kart. It was a really fun time. I never really got their names since they were intent on the game, but I actually won a few rounds and had a great time. 

German Word of the Day: Frühstück- it means "breakfast." I enjoy eating all sorts of food for Frühstück. 

Sixth Day in Dortmund

Sixth Day in Dortmund (Thursday, Sept. 6th)   

First day of German class!!! I was the first to get there and sat down. Pretty soon, people started filing in. A girl named Bilge from Turkey sat next to me. She was really nice and soft spoken. Eventually our table was full. The other American I had spotted yesterday was there (Nicklaus), an Italian (Davide), and two Taiwanese boys, (Matt and Joy). Our teacher’s name is Özlem. The lack of icebreakers yesterday was made up for today. I think we did at least five. One involved throwing a soccer ball around. Another was sort of a musical chairs type deal. However, I met so many people and actually remember their names now! Yay for friends!

The class is 3 hours long and we covered a lot of information: How to introduce yourself, where you are from, how to tell time, pronunciation, telephone numbers, regular and irregular verbs and all their conjugations, and question words like who what where etc. I have a lot to review tonight! But our teacher presented it in such a way that I don’t feel overwhelmed. There was also a fifteen-minute break around noon, which broke up the monotony.

After class, I had another meeting with Professor Erdogdu. Christopher was also there, as well as the other member of the group, Mike from Canada. Ehh?? He said aboot (about) like five times and I was entertained.

 We then exchanged numbers and emails and set up meeting dates for the future. I filled up a whole notebook page of times and dates and will have to decipher it later. I really need an agenda… In any case, we have to go get our Visas on Monday and submit our CV in German by then. I will definitely be asking Ann-Kathrin for help with that. I think I could translate my name, but that’s about it.

After all my meetings and classes were over, Christopher and I went in to town to gather supplies. We had been trying to get away for the past two days, but they have kept us busy! We immediately went to the main strip of shops. They even have an H&M, which I will be visiting as soon as my job starts. We went to a few stores and then stopped for lunch at a Currywurst stand. It was delicious as usual. The only thing is, they put mayonnaise on their fries, which is kind of peculiar. I much prefer ketchup. We then stopped at the bookstore where our gift cards were from. I bee-lined for the English section and was excited to find a big selection. That store is also on my list to visit after my first paycheck. We made it back to the station and then to our dorms. Now I’m off to study my irregular verbs, I will keep the updates coming!

German word of the day: Fragge- it means question. If you have a fragge, you should just ask!

Fifth Day in Dortmund

 

 Fifth Day in Dortmund (Wednesday, September 5th)

Today was very interesting. There are a lot of international students! We filled up a huge classroom. I was happy that we didn’t have to do any icebreakers. We just filled out a sheet that was supposed to gauge what level German language class we should be in. Then we had to interview the person next to us and write down their answers in German. Luckily I was sitting next to Christopher, who is a genius with German. I got through the first questions, but when I had to write down his answers it was just a mess. There was also an essay question. I understood about one word of what they were asking. I felt like Ron Swanson out of Parks and Recreation, when he gets a typewriter:

"I´ll just write every German word I know!!!"

The teacher then announced there would be an oral portion of the test. I was about ready to jump out of the window by then. She assured the class that if we didn’t speak German, just say so and we would immediately be put in the beginner class. Phew! But I’m not the kind of person to just not try... even if it is hopeless. So I said my name, where I was from, and how long I’d been studying German (3 months). Just from that, they knew to put me in the beginner class. I also met a really nice girl who was on the other side of me. Her name was Anya and she was from Poland. She was fretting about not knowing enough German as well, but her accent was flawless and her essay was a lot longer than mine (read: more than one line).

When we finished with that, we were taken on a campus tour to give the professors time to sort us. I found out where the cafeteria was and where to buy coins for the laundry. Very useful! Then, Christopher and I went to meet with Selma Erdogdu-Volmerich. Try saying that 3 times fast. We were offered a job as sort of teaching assitants. It was for an engineering class that deals with the cultural differences from Germany to America. We were to lead group discussion three times a week and attend the class itself (which is taught in English). Dr. Gruenzweig told me not only would it look good on a resume, it also pays too! So I can make some money to keep the moths in my wallet company. (that’s a joke, by the way).

After that, they invited us back in the classroom and told us what class we were in. There were four sections and guess where I was? In the beginner class. Yay!! I recognized another American whose name was called, so at least I’ll know someone.

Then we went to sign our housing contracts. Seriously, it takes a degree in rocket science to figure out the trash rules here. There are like five bins, only certain types of plastic in one, you have to wrap up leftovers if you throw them away, yogurt containers have to be washed out... I don’t even know. I’ll have to get three trashcans to sort out everything. 

They also monitor your water and electricity consumption! No leaving on lights or wasteful water running here! I’m worried now… I took a long shower after I finally arrived, maybe they’ve already noted that.

We then went to the library to get our cards. That’s how I was finally able to post the first part of the blog. Internet access, yay! One annoying thing is the keyboard. It’s just mixed up enough to slow me down. The Y and Z are reversed for some reason. And the shift key for the @ is beside the space bar.
Maybe I’ll figure it out.

I also got my internet contract thing today. Soon I can just stay in my room and post this thing! We finally had a break after all of this and I came back to the dorm to relax and eat. Then we had a group meeting at the Sonnendeck (like a student meeting center). It was a chance to get a beer and meet new people. However, for the first hour, I just sat with our group from the scavenger hunt. Eventually a girl from Brazil and another girl from Lithuania joined us. Pretty soon, I’ll have friends from every country :-) haha. Now I’m back in the dorm and ready for bed. My first official class of German is tomorrow and I’m kind of nervous. It meets for 3 hours every single day. So if you don’t hear from me for a while, that’s probably why. Wish me luck! Schüss!

German word of the day: Schreiben- to write. Sometimes, it is hard to find the words to schreiben.